Posted on 03/29/2013 3:59:38 PM PDT by llevrok
I don't feel so good .. my back really hurts :-(
Alright sir, we'll have someone with you very shortly . . . but first, will you fit thru the door ?
Uhhh . . .
Or put in a fat camp.
Hubby had one of those that died inside his mobile home. They had to cut the wall out to get him out.
I work in a nursing home. We have bariatric beds now. We had a huge man who kept trying to get out of his bed and would fall. The nurses would call EMS to get him up. They finally told them to stop calling, that they had serious calls to get to. The resident was shipped off to another facility shortly after that.
It’s easy to joke about, but the responders that have to deal with such patients do have real, and serious problems to solve. Even if it were fairly rare, they still need some way to deal with those exceptional cases when they happen. And they will happen.
****
It increases the chance that something could happen to the patient,”*****
Patient hell! One of my wife’s kin, a paramedic built like a linebacker, suffered a permanent back injury when a gurney collapsed with a very obese patient on it.
Isn’t there a Shamu-mobile they could borrow on an as-needed basis from Seaworld Orlando?
I recall 4 yrs ago a 600lb man I provided service to in an assisted living facility. The state appropriated 25k for bariatric equipment via the CBA pgm. He was manipulative, selfish and demanding, and only lasted around 4 months there, being evicted because he violated the food policy. He was sneaking pizzas and liters of cokes at night. His caseworker learned of it and placed him in a SNF. Sad case. Food was his DRUG. He was only about 35 and in very poor health as you can imagine...lower extremity edema as I’ve never seen. CHF/kidney failure...
It is sad and you have to wonder at what point did they and/or their families just not care or try to do something.
I had a debate with a Lib at work about obesity the other day. His argument (he is in his late 20’s) was that healthy food was not readily available. I explained to him that I am in my 60’s and have maintained the same weight I had when I graduated from High School by taking the time to exercise and prepare good meals. I don’t know if I reached him or not.
I used to be a Contracting Officer for the VA. You wouldn’t believe how much bariatric stuff I bought.
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